Just Another Hat

 Well, it's done. This is not the best photo but as requested by my granddaughter it's a cat ears hat; dark gray with pale pink ears. Although not a difficult crochet project for me, it has taken some time to complete for various reasons. I started making this hat in the summer, which means months ago in Florida. As the days grew longer and hotter, closing the blackout curtains became mandatory, and as any experienced crocheter knows, black and other dark colored yarns are hard to see, especially in dimly lit rooms so that--along with my aging eyes slowed my progress.

Summer in Florida is different. It begins in April or even March with temperatures in high 80s to low 90s and from there it ramps up to 90s and 100s Fahrenheit with high humidity by June. There it remains until sometime in December, usually. There's no relief at night either.                 

I have other long neglected projects to do: two afghans (that's crochet for blanket) and a promised bunny hat, but at least the cat hat is done. The problem now becomes how to get it to my grandkid who lives less than an hour's drive away by car-- because I have no car, and neither does she because she is too young to drive, and although I have a driver's license, I can't afford to support a car. Forty five dollars a month for parking, an estimated $100/ month for insurance; plus maintenance, repairs, and gas -- not do-able on a social security income. Crunched the numbers and determined that I can either pay my rent or pay for a car but not both.

There are buses here. I used to take them often. They were never good, but now they're worse. The buses that stop in my neighborhood are once per hour, every day. To get to within a mile of my grandkids' home, it is necessary to take three buses, with a lengthy wait of nearly an hour between bus #1 and bus #2, in 100 plus degree heat.  I tried  a ride share service once. With the tip, it cost about $40 one way. So there's that, and the newest health scare: monkey pox. 

Depending on which news update you read on this latest public health threat, the monkey pox can be spread by "exhaled droplets" from infected person(s), is "really, really hearty," surviving a long time on surfaces and fabrics (bus seats?) and it impacts children more severely than Covid 19. I don't like these odds, so after venturing out in the world for a short time after the lockdown Days of Covid, I'm once again retreating and withdrawing from a hostile world. While I'd like to forget it and would prefer to leave political things to politicians, I'm reminded that the political is personal. I'm reminded of a recent news story I heard about millionaire celebrities who received millions in pandemic relief "loans" that have been forgiven, so these loans in reality were handouts to millionaires, the people who need them least-- while I, as an Etsy seller had to close my shop. Rising prices for both yarn and shipping and other things related to the selling platform made it unsustainable. No matter.

I didn't learn to crochet to get rich, but because I love the craft, so now I have a cat hat woven with both love and heartbreak that I can't give to my grandchild. And why? For lack of a liveable retirement income, for lack of safe, reliable, affordable public transit options, that's why. This will probably end with me paying the United States Postal Service more than the price of the yarn to deliver this hat to a grandchild less than a hour away as the car rolls. And that's how it rolls--right over us.